When you nominate a mill, you choose the fabric supplier and the factory buys from it, or you buy the fabric and supply it. When the factory sources, it chooses the mill and is responsible for meeting your fabric spec. Both are common in knitwear. Nomination gives you control over quality, consistency across factories and the ability to make claims such as fibre origin. Factory sourcing is simpler and leaves one party responsible for the finished garment.

Responsibility is the main issue

The factory's concern is reasonable. If a nominated fabric fails, say by shrinking too much or pilling, the factory will argue it is not responsible. Avoid this by writing down who is responsible for what. Typically the mill is responsible for meeting the fabric spec, and the factory for cutting, sewing and finishing correctly, including checking fabric on arrival.

Write a fabric spec both can test

Give construction, fibre content, weight with a tolerance under a named method such as ASTM D3776, width, shrinkage after a named wash procedure such as ISO 6330, and other properties you need. Ask the mill for test reports per lot, and ask the factory to check incoming fabric against the spec before cutting, using a sampling approach agreed in advance.

Keep an approved fabric swatch with the mill, the factory and your team, so all three are judging shade and hand feel against the same physical reference.

Price and lead time

Nominated mills may have higher minimums or longer lead times than the factory's usual supplier. The factory may also add a handling charge. Compare total cost and time, including shipping fabric to the factory.

When nominating makes sense

Nominate when the fabric is central to your product, when you want the same fabric across several factories, or when you need traceability for claims. Let the factory source for simpler basics or when you are testing a new factory with a small order.

Agree the process for faults

Agree what happens if fabric fails at the factory: who inspects, who pays for replacements and how delays are handled. Final garment inspection under a plan such as ISO 2859-1 still applies.